KEY POINTS:
Friends drinking with three men only hours before the vineyard workers were killed in a Blenheim house fire believe the blaze was accidental.
The weatherboard house on the corner of Elzy and Kinross streets was gutted by the blaze at 3am yesterday.
The Fire Service said the sheer speed of the fire made the prospect of saving the three men unrealistic.
Medical and dental records were likely to be required in the identification of the men, police said.
Friends Mindy Johnston, Alan Hodge, Mathew Larson and Shanon Pearson said they were among eight people having drinks at the house.
Mr Larson said the three victims all worked in the same vineyard contracting crew and were "bloody good guys".
He believed that the fire might have been started by a discarded cigarette.
"Whatever happened was an accident," Mr Larson said.
Mr Johnston agreed, saying the fire "was not suspicious".
Bevan Hardaker, the stepfather of a man believed to be among the dead, 23-year-old Daniel Reeves, told The Press he was "still trying to take it in".
He said Mr Reeves had spent the night at the house because he was going from there to work in the vineyards in the morning.
Police said neighbours reported there had been an altercation in the area about midnight and they were investigating whether it was linked to the Elzy Street property.
However, Mr Larson denied there was any altercation, and said the noise was one of the men hanging out of a window saying a loud goodbye to another friend.
"There was nothing negative," Larson said. "It makes me feel a bit better knowing they were happy."
He said they left at 1am, and the last person visiting the house had left at 2.45am.
Blenheim deputy chief fire officer Ian Martella said the sheer speed of the early morning fire made the prospect of saving anyone unrealistic.
One body was found in the bedroom, one in the lounge and one just inside the back porch, Mr Martella said.
Police, environmental science and research staff and fire safety officers spent yesterday examining the scene to determine whether the fire was suspicious.
- NZPA
